Abs Module Failure

Hi, three months ago my speedo stopped working and had abs light come on, handbrake light come on, milege stopped working etc etc, i took my car to ford which is a ford fiesta 1.25 06 reg they charged me 80 pound to find out the problem with my car, told me it was an abs module failure and i would need to pay 700 pound for a new one to be fixed! i lease my car from ford monthly which i have done for 2 years now, yet apparently i am liable for this repair. it has happened just outside of warranty, but as far as im concerened this should not be going wrong on a car that is four years old and the fact that i am leasing the car and they still want me to pay 700 pound to replace the abs as apparently i am liable for this repair i am very angry with. am currently in a dispute with ford about this but they do not accept that they are liable and say that they have never seen this fault before, however i have googled and found that it has been a common problem on ford fiestas. very frustrating and may be obtaining legal advice.
would be great if anyone else with the same or similar problem could get back to me as would like to know how you have got on or any advice you could give me would be great!
my car has failed mot and is not legal to drive, cant afford to get it fixed and have no car at present any replies would be great thanks

Hi, three months ago my speedo stopped working and had abs light come on, handbrake light come on, milege stopped working etc etc, i took my car to ford which is a ford fiesta 1.25 06 reg they charged me 80 pound to find out the problem with my car, told me it was an abs module failure and i would need to pay 700 pound for a new one to be fixed! i lease my car from ford monthly which i have done for 2 years now, yet apparently i am liable for this repair. it has happened just outside of warranty, but as far as im concerened this should not be going wrong on a car that is four years old and the fact that i am leasing the car and they still want me to pay 700 pound to replace the abs as apparently i am liable for this repair i am very angry with. am currently in a dispute with ford about this but they do not accept that they are liable and say that they have never seen this fault before, however i have googled and found that it has been a common problem on ford fiestas. very frustrating and may be obtaining legal advice. would be great if anyone else with the same or similar problem could get back to me as would like to know how you have got on or any advice you could give me would be great!my car has failed mot and is not legal to drive, cant afford to get it fixed and have no car at present any replies would be great thanks

Hi Emily
I too have had this problem. Complete ABS failure with 25000 on the clock and 6 months out of warrenty. 2006 reg Fiesta. I have seen that there are new postings on the web about this problem. Ford offered to pay half of the bill, which I accepted. I am still very interested to hear what is happening generally about this. I was desperate to get my car back on the road and did not want to "rock the boat" by refusing their offer.
Sian
PS So sorry but I think I accidently sent Emily's post to herself!

I have the same problem. My speedo doesn't work, engine mgmnt light, handbrake light and abs light stays on permanently. Only 16.5k on the clock, and the gutting thing is it is just out of warranty. Emily how did you get Ford to pay half of your bill? Was your car out of warranty? I got Ford to do a diagnostic check (£90) and found out it was the ABS module that needs replacing. They quoted me £940 to get it repaired! No way I can afford it. Luckily enough I just got the car MOT'd before it went !Removed! up.

Seems there are quite a varied amount of prices to get it replaced too!

Hi, three months ago my speedo stopped working and had abs light come on, handbrake light come on, milege stopped working etc etc, i took my car to ford which is a ford fiesta 1.25 06 reg they charged me 80 pound to find out the problem with my car, told me it was an abs module failure and i would need to pay 700 pound for a new one to be fixed! i lease my car from ford monthly which i have done for 2 years now, yet apparently i am liable for this repair. it has happened just outside of warranty, but as far as im concerened this should not be going wrong on a car that is four years old and the fact that i am leasing the car and they still want me to pay 700 pound to replace the abs as apparently i am liable for this repair i am very angry with. am currently in a dispute with ford about this but they do not accept that they are liable and say that they have never seen this fault before, however i have googled and found that it has been a common problem on ford fiestas. very frustrating and may be obtaining legal advice. would be great if anyone else with the same or similar problem could get back to me as would like to know how you have got on or any advice you could give me would be great!my car has failed mot and is not legal to drive, cant afford to get it fixed and have no car at present any replies would be great thanks

emily x

HI, it's not just the fiesta range which have this problem the focus range also have this ABS modulator failure,ford did a recall some time back to be able to correct this fault on the focus range,I have replaced quite a few of these modulator's on focuses out of warranty,because as you say it is an expensive repair at a dealer and to be honest it is not that much cheaper at an independent garage such as mine,cost of the modulator is very dear.I don't know were you stand with the legal implecation's,ford are alway's going to argue that your car is out of warranty,leasing or no leasing.You may end up with a good will gesture from them.

I have the same problem. My speedo doesn't work, engine mgmnt light, handbrake light and abs light stays on permanently. Only 16.5k on the clock, and the gutting thing is it is just out of warranty. Emily how did you get Ford to pay half of your bill? Was your car out of warranty? I got Ford to do a diagnostic check (£90) and found out it was the ABS module that needs replacing. They quoted me £940 to get it repaired! No way I can afford it. Luckily enough I just got the car MOT'd before it went !Removed! up.

Seems there are quite a varied amount of prices to get it replaced too!

Cheers, Dezie

hiya i had all the same problems as you have described, my car was also just out of warranty although my mot was after the abs broke and my car failed its mot because of this reason so is now declared off the road becuase it is not yet fixed. i also lease my car on finace paying montly for a car i cant use so it is very frustrating. i have not yet managed to get ford to pay for my bill i have currently sent them 6 letters and am in the process of a complaint we currently have laywers involved and may have to go to court as i cannot afford 700 pound to get it replaced. also they are charging you more than you should be to get it replacedmy advice to you is to write a letter of complaint to ford as they are aware of this problem even though they wont admit to it. they under the consumer law have to pay for it it is not down to you please let me know how you get on also i will let you know how i do Emily

Hi, came across this topic as I have just suffered the same fate - ABS module has gone and I am being quoted the best part of £1000 to have it repaired by a Ford dealer. I have a 2006 Fiesta that has only 13,000 miles on the clock and I cannot believe a major component like this has failed so soon - its practically a quarter of the cost of my car to replace!
Does anyone have any advice on who to approach within Ford to lodge a complaint and demand a sizeable discount? As you can tell I am not a particularly happy camper at the moment.

I have a 56 reg fiesta zetec s, 32,000 miles, full ford service history. About a month ago, when on it's MOT I was told the drivers side coil spring had snapped! Which is a joke on a car this old (and I drive carefully to avoid potholes etc), that cost me £150 to replace, so was hoping that was the end of it.

Barely used the car for another 2 weeks, then ABS warning light came on, brake warning light, trip computer went blank and speedo stopped working. From reading on here and on other sites, it looks as if its going to be a faulty ABS module. Managed to get my car back home and left ignition on 1st turn. These lights went off about 10 mins later, so I hoped it had sorted itself, but tried the car again today and upon starting, the same problems have arrised again!

Havent had it put on a diagnostic yet, but I know whats coming. Can't believe that they havent identified this as a fault and agreed to replace.
Please let me know if you get any luck with ford customer services. Once I've found out exactly what it is, I'll let you know. Would be interesting where we stand with trading standards, may end up refferring it to watchdog. I bet for every post on the net identifying this problem, you probably have 50+ people just paying up and not challenging it.

Had a number of problems with this car from new, the build quality is awful, so definately won't be buying another ford.

I have a 56 reg fiesta zetec s, 32,000 miles, full ford service history. About a month ago, when on it's MOT I was told the drivers side coil spring had snapped! Which is a joke on a car this old (and I drive carefully to avoid potholes etc), that cost me £150 to replace, so was hoping that was the end of it.

Barely used the car for another 2 weeks, then ABS warning light came on, brake warning light, trip computer went blank and speedo stopped working. From reading on here and on other sites, it looks as if its going to be a faulty ABS module. Managed to get my car back home and left ignition on 1st turn. These lights went off about 10 mins later, so I hoped it had sorted itself, but tried the car again today and upon starting, the same problems have arrised again!

Havent had it put on a diagnostic yet, but I know whats coming. Can't believe that they havent identified this as a fault and agreed to replace.Please let me know if you get any luck with ford customer services. Once I've found out exactly what it is, I'll let you know. Would be interesting where we stand with trading standards, may end up refferring it to watchdog. I bet for every post on the net identifying this problem, you probably have 50+ people just paying up and not challenging it.

Had a number of problems with this car from new, the build quality is awful, so definately won't be buying another ford.

Geoff[/quote

Hi Geoff i'm emily i had the same problem as you back in march! i am currently taking Ford to court over it! as i have my car on finance and it was off the road due to failure of mot because of the abs module! i went through my dads mate to get it fixed which cost me 850 pound as i need a car and could not afford to have it off the road and ford refused to pay for the repair as my car was out of warranty and said that it was down to wear and tear! i also have a 56 reg and this should not be happening on this car! we are in the process of going to court to claim back the money and win the case i will keep updated

Hi Geoff i'm emily i had the same problem as you back in march! i am currently taking Ford to court over it! as i have my car on finance and it was off the road due to failure of mot because of the abs module! i went through my dads mate to get it fixed which cost me 850 pound as i need a car and could not afford to have it off the road and ford refused to pay for the repair as my car was out of warranty and said that it was down to wear and tear! i also have a 56 reg and this should not be happening on this car!
we are in the process of going to court to claim back the money and win the case i will keep updated

Well, good luck with taking them to court, keep us updated on how you get on.

Surprise surprise the garage said it was the ABS module, and quoted me £650 to replace. Forced to take it to a local ford garage as other garages in the area could only install it and plum it in, but not program it (apparently).

Rang up on friday to ask him to keep the original abs module for me, so I can check it has actually been replaced and also I want to have a look at it myself. Weirdly, after I requested this he told me that the technition had already looked at the old module and could find no signs of water ingress............. werid. So on monday when I pick the car up again I'm going to ask why it failed. Can't help but think this is Ford trying to cover their own arses.

Spoke to Ford, and with no surprise was told they didnt want to know. Because the car is 4 years old they pretty much consider any failure to be down to wear and tear, so no goodwill gesture from them.

Anyway, have written to watchdog about it, just incase they get other people contacting them with the same problem and I plan to get rid of the car in the new year before the whole engine falls out the bottom of the !Removed! thing.
Certainly will be doing my up-most from now on to deter everyone I know from buying a Ford. Hope a few £100 was worth all the bad publicity they will get from me.

A further update as to where my complaint has ended up - precisely nowhere, as you would expect from Ford. My letter to customer services was "investigated" but was turned down. I then wrote directly to the Ford CEO, also the head of passenger vehicles and the head of spares. My letters found their way back to customer services who then re-opened the investigation and very unsurprisingly came to same conclusion as the first time round - my car is out of warranty and this is wear and tear. So as far as Ford is concerned my complaint is now closed and I am back at square one. I pointed out to them quite clearly that if such an expensive item can fail so early on in a car's lifespan then I am better off buying a Kia or Vauxhall who provide longer warranties and thus make it more economical to own. No reply to that line of argument!

Geoff if you could let me know who at Watchdog you directed your letter to, and are happy to let me know the contents of it, I will send another letter to them and hopefully lend some additional weight to this issue. Emily good luck with the court action, I hope it goes well.

Well looks like I have just joined the ABS Module failure club. I have a 56 plate Fiesta Style Climate with 36k on the clock and last Friday the ABS, Engine warning and handbrake lights came on and the speedo etc stopped working, I was dreading the news from my local garage after he looked at it today and sure enough its the module! My guy has ordered it and it has to come from Germany! This a month after the MOT. He, god bless him is quoting me £500, but the car will probably have to go to ford so they can set the firmware up as my current one is totally dead and the diagnostic computer can't read it. I have to say I am disgusted with Ford for not only shoddy workmanship but the fact they won't stand up and say they have made a mistake and need to recall this module. Toyota fessed up to their mistakes and I don't think its done them any harm. Message to Ford. We you loyal customers buy your products in good faith knowing, by past experience, of your reliability, so why shun us so and palm us off with sub standard merchandise! Its not right and its not fair! Now step up to the plate and put your hand in your pocket and restore our faith in you before we got to a Japanese car manufacturer! End of.

Guess what, I too have just joined the ABS Module failure club (ABS permanently on, hand brake light, engine light, no speedo etc...). I have a 56 plate Fiesta Studio with 22k on the clock. But I'm feeling a bit left out .... a new fault has appeared ... not only do the usual warning lights come on but I have a new one, when starting the car, the battery light stays lit for a few mins. I have to turn off the engine and pray that will go out once started again (usually it does).

Like all the above comments, I am highly disappointed such a major fault is being overlooked with the usual response of "Not heard of that one before" when speaking with anyone from Ford. A local mechanic is an "expert" at fixing these things and frequently sees moisture inside the units.